Mobile apparatuses such as mobile phones can be used to make a call from their location, as a matter of course. Moreover, mobile apparatuses can detect their location via the Global Positioning System (GPS). A service for acquiring the location information of a caller from a network or an emergency-call acceptance institution while an emergency call is being made or after an emergency call has been made is available.
Japanese Laid-open Patent Publication No. 2001-218250 discloses checking of the location of a mobile apparatus and sending of a notification thereof. Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 2001-218250 discloses a technology of storing identification information of an individual terminal and identification information of a predetermined intended party in storage unit in a manner such that the identification information of the individual terminal and the identification information of the predetermined intended party are related to each other, and storing a plurality of map information items as a database. Japanese Laid-open Patent Publication No. 2001-218250 discloses a location-information providing system that detects location information of a mobile terminal in accordance with a condition pre-specified by a subscriber, arranges the location information on map information, and sends the location information thereof as additional information to a predetermined receiving-side display terminal by mapping the location information thereof on the map information, in response to an incoming-call request.
Sending of the location of a device from which a call is being made is useful in terms of detection of the place where the call is being made. If it is desired to acquire the location information of a caller from a network or an emergency-call acceptance institution while an emergency call is being made or after an emergency call has been made, the information regarding the emergency call may be detected by another person whom the caller does not want to acquire the information regarding the emergency call. Thus, to prevent another person from acquiring the information regarding the emergency call, the acquisition of the location information is made difficult, whereby it is difficult to specify a location where the call is being made. Even when it is possible to send the location information of a calling-side apparatus, if a receiving-side apparatus cannot receive the location information, sending of the location information is not carried out.
In Japanese Laid-open Patent Publication No. 2001-218250, a technology is described in which detection of the current location of a calling-side terminal is performed and a location detection result is sent to a receiving-side terminal. The detection of the current location of a calling-side terminal is performed by registering a location detection request in advance for an exchange network, from one of the above-described mobile phones or personal handyphone systems (PHSs). Such a technology always requires registration for an exchange network, and thus lacks promptness.
If a calling-side terminal is a fixed telephone, the location thereof can be specified to a certain degree using a phone number thereof; however, if a calling-side terminal is a portable phone, it is impossible to specify the location thereof from a phone number thereof. Even when a portable phone is used, there may be a case in which the location of a portable phone from which a call is being made is desired to be notified to a recipient or a case in which a recipient wants to know the location from which a call is being made.
Japanese Laid-open Patent Publication No. 2001-218250 does not disclose or imply such requests and problems, and does not disclose or imply any structure for solving them and the like.